His words were a groan uttered with such genuine pleasure that I thought I’d have popped a boner if the water wasn’t’t so cold.
“Congratulations, by the way,” said Theo. “You won, and you won good.”
“I was worried that you were part of the pile-up,” I admitted. “I didn’t want Monaco to be a curse for either of us.”
Theo’s eyes drifted down to the tattoo on my chest, a reminder of that disastrous last time. But it also stood as a reminder of my bond with Theo, so I didn’t mind. And of the bets we shared to help one another be better drivers.
“Christ, this water’s cold. Little Theo’s not looking like such a perky six any more,” said Theo.
I laughed, trying to cover up the flash of lust that had probably crossed my face at the thought ofLittle Theo. “I hope you have not forgotten our bet. The marina. Naked.”
“Don’t you worry, I’ll be doing it at midnight,” said Theo. “I hope you’re not expecting video evidence.”
“Oh, I’ll be there,Teodoro.Midnight is fine by me.” I grinned at him as I stood up and stepped out of the ice bath. I grabbed a white fluffy dress-robe from the wall for the walk back to the team hospitality, where I got dressed properly for the evening ahead. I didn’t have many drinks with the team, mindful that Magnus wanted to have that career chat the following day, but I joined in with the revelry for a few hours so that we all felt like we were celebrating. Frankie, who’d been caught at the back behind the Aston Martin pile-up, looked sour the whole evening.
I walked back to my hotel with a spring in my step, knowing I’d have a very special meeting at midnight, and another in the morning. I didn’t know which I was looking forward to more.
Every minute in the hotel seemed to pass slowly, even as I tried to wish the minutes away. My heart was thudding in my chest at the thought of meeting Theo down at the marina, of the bet I’d proposed and that he had accepted. At the thought of those smooth limbs in the moonlight.
My joy was not to last. At 11pm, my phone started buzzing, and my whole world came crashing down.
Theo
Iwalked through the streets of Monaco under the moonlight, a cap pulled down over my face to avoid the gaze of the few people who were still out so late. There would be parties going on, still, but they would be confined to casinos, hotels, and the team hospitality suites. I hoped Graham was still celebrating his second place. I had managed a respectable fifth, and my championship hopes were not dashed.
I had mostly been pleased for Sebastian’s win. And then the world had been cruel enough to take that from him. I didn’t know if he’d be showing up to the marina tonight, and I wouldn’t blame him if he hadn’t. Perhaps he was in full crisis mode, calling everyone he knew after the news to fix things. I had no idea.
But as the marina came into view, with so many yachts parked, lights off and quiet, I saw him. Sitting on the edge of the concrete wall and staring down at the water, silhouetted by ripples of moonlight on the water. Sebastian’s broad shoulders wereslumped, his head down. I made my way over to him quickly and sat directly next to him.
“How are you?” I asked.
For several long moments, he was quiet. I listened to his rhythmic breathing and the splash of water against the walls. And then he opened his mouth.
“Max Burnham,” he muttered. “MaxfuckingBurnham.”
“I know,” I replied, not sure what else to say. “It’s not fair.”
The headlines had hit the news an hour before midnight.Max in, Sebastian Out at Remini!andDespite Monaco Win, a Bump in the Road for Sebastian García.
We sat in silence a little while longer. He didn’t seem to be in much of a mood to talk, so I did the only thing I could do. I took his hand in mine and rubbed calming circles into it with my thumb, hoping that calming Sebastian down was worth the way that touching him made my heart beat almost out of my chest.
“I just…I gave everything to this sport,” said Sebastian. “Since I was a kid, I karted, and then I raced in real cars, and finally I made it into Moto 1. And I’ve not seen my family. I have avoided relationships. I haven’t lived my life. And this is how it repays me.”
My heart broke to hear him sound so dejected. “Oi. You are not down and out yet,” I said. “Plenty of drivers have recovered from worse. I bet there will be teams queuing out of the door to have a driver like Sebastian García.”
Sebastian smirked, but it was humourless. “Sure. Dragon Racing or Rebel Force. Both bottom of the table, I would never win in their cars.”
“So that’s what this is about?” I nudged him, a grin pulling up at the corners of my mouth despite the situation. “You just want to be a champion.”
“Don’t we all?” asked Sebastian. “And having Remini drop me…it just feels like a step backward at the wrong time, and I don’t know how to recover.”
“You recover by being the best you can possibly be. You don’t give up. You keep racing at your best. You’ve got the whole European tour before your contract is done. Make yourself an even hotter commodity.” When Sebastian didn’t reply, I changed tack. “When did you find out? You seemed happy after the race.”
“The same time as you did, probably.” Sebastian sounded even more bitter than before, and when I looked at him, his eyes were deep in shadow. “A breaking news notification on the Moto 1 app, followed by a thousand calls from my agent and from Magnus.”
“And what have they had to say about this?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I refused to answer,” said Sebastian. “I don’t want to hear their voices. Magnus told me he wanted to talk about my career tomorrow. I thought he was going to extend my contract, but instead…he signed another behind my back. And didn’t even have the balls to tell me.”
